A Reason To Live
by C.Queen
Summary: Now that Julia's dead Spike has a new mission involving protecting a certain GWing Preventer. Hackers Heero and Edward in the same room? Faye near poor Quatre? uh oh.
1. A Familiar Face

Note: Hi, this is my first Cowboy Bebop fic so please excuse any major mistakes I make now and in the possible future. In your review feel free to correct me and I apologize now and thank you for doing so. I recently saw Cowboy Bebop for the first time and am now hooked though I've only seen the movie Knock on Heaven's Door which is really good in case your wondering. As with any of my fics I hope you'll review and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy.  
  
  
  
A Familiar Face  
  
  
  
Spike stood alone in the shadows of the large building as he looked around him, not really caring that he could be dead at any moment, ceasing to exist as though he'd never drawn breath. The doctors had said he was lucky to be alive, that the wound from Vicious's sword should have killed him. If Faye hadn't tracked him down and found him he would have. He hadn't thanked her for it. Sometimes he wondered if it had been a joke on him that he'd lived, a punishment for the crimes he'd committed and the lives he'd ended. It was his punishment to live without Julia. He'd thought about simply shooting himself; it wouldn't have been hard and yet he was still alive, because Jet and the rest of them wouldn't let him. Ein and Edo had come back too when they'd heard about his condition, this was the first time they'd let him out of their sight. They really shouldn't have, there was a good chance he wouldn't get out of this alive, didn't really care either way.  
  
  
  
He didn't care a lot about anything anymore including his life but there was something he had to do before he died and it was that very thing that had brought him to the base in the middle of the night. Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out the well-folded photograph he'd acquired and looking at the picture, his heart rate excelerating as it always did whenever he looked at it though it was stupid and pointless. She resembled Julia in a lot of ways, her hair was a darker blonde but if she wore her hair loose and had bangs one would know them for sisters right away. The creased picture wasn't of the best quality and it wasn't a recent one either but it didn't really matter either because it was the person in the picture that mattered. The girl whose face he looked at with pain filled brown eyes was somewhere in the building behind him and he was going to get her out of there if it killed him. Maybe he'd get lucky and it would, he really didn't give a damn anymore.  
  
  
  
"Well it's now or never." Spike whispered under his breath as he pulled out his well used handgun, running his finger along the barrel of his weapon of choice as he composed himself and allowed only the mission ahead to remain in focus. Normally he wouldn't have risk his neck if there wasn't any profit in it for him but she was the only thing of Julia left in the world and she'd want him to help her sister, to see to it that she remained safe. And her sister appeared to attract trouble as much as her older sister Spike thought as he moved out of the shadows as though he were simply out for a stroll instead of about to break countless laws and unspoken rules. It had been a while since he'd really had a purpose and Spike was going to complete it, what he had to do to achieve it really didn't matter to him. Ten minutes later with the body count well over a dozen a barely winded Spike was into the maximum security building and was well on his way to reaching his target. Thanks to a very informative guard who'd been eager to plead for his life he knew where he was headed and with a sense of purpose he hadn't felt in a long time. It had taken him months to get this far; Julia had done a good job of hiding her sister's existence from the world and given her occupation he wasn't surprised. If Vicious had known about the sister he would have used her to get to Julia, most likely killing her just to spite her.  
  
  
  
He would never have known she existed if Julia hadn't made arrangements for a letter telling him about her to be given to him after her death. So here he was in this base and ironically enough the biggest thing he couldn't help but wonder about was what other similarities there would be between the two sisters. According to the files he'd managed to get on her she'd become a doctor and a major in the army by the time she was nineteen and had managed to evade Oz for several months which was no small feat. Apparently she'd become quite a thorn in Oz's side and Spike couldn't help but wonder how angry the Duke must be to have a girl who was barely more then a child putting some heavy duty wrenches in his way. The females in the family must really love to piss off high-ranking people Spike thought as he shot out a camera with a twisted grin. Let's just hope that this time he could prevent one of the females from dying because of it. Turning around a corner he pulled the trigger and the guard walking his way was dead before he had time to scream. Walking over he passed the holding cells till he came to one where he could just make out the figure of a young girl. Coming to a stop in front of the cell he stared into the shadows of the cell and wondered what the hell he'd been thinking.  
  
  
  
"Nice shot." A female voice said with a faint Chinese accent as her words broke through his thoughts. She'd remained sitting and showed no visible signs of distress despite the fact that there was a dead body quite close by who'd just been killed before her eyes. Given her profession dead bodies were probably a normal sight and Spike couldn't help but wonder what kind of a world they lived in that this was normal. War, such a stupid waste of lives and resources.  
  
"Thanks, you Sally?" Spike said casually as though they'd simply met at a store or the park instead of an Oz compound. He was living on borrowed time as it was yet he appeared to be in no hurry as they regarded each other with curiosity born from the unknown.  
  
"Maybe, depends on who's asking." The voice said with a hint of amusement but she stood up and came slightly closer though not close enough to grab. "Maybe you should tell me why you're looking for her."  
  
"I'm here to break her out of here." Spike said as he turned his back to her. Walking over to the dead body he snatched a card from the man's belt and walked over to where the locking system for the cell was. "I don't have much time so you'd better decide whether you're Sally or not. I'm betting that you are personally."  
  
  
  
"And what are you expecting out of this?" The woman asked drawing close enough that the well -lit hallway provided enough light for him to see that her hair was a dark blonde. She was moving closer to the door as well. "My mother always told me not to go anywhere with strangers."  
  
"The name's Spike." Spike said with a wide smirk at her spunk, he could see why she'd survived as long as she had. "Now we're not strangers anymore so lets get moving okay."  
  
"Spike Spiegel?" The woman said drawing right up against the bars so that he could see her face clearly. "Is that your name?" She asked staring at him with blue eyes that were Julia's eyes in a different face.  
  
Up close he could see the differences plainly but he could still see Julia in her face and Spike nearly reached out a hand to touch her face before he realized what he was doing. Lowering his hand he stared into her blue eyes and tried to ignore the pull of them. "You've heard of me?" Spike asked as he casually pivoted and shot two soldiers rushing in before they'd even thought to draw their own guns. "I'm flattered."  
  
"I'll go with you." Sally said and looking pointedly at the lock Spike grinned and with a pressing of a few buttons the cell door opened and she stepped out. "Got an extra one for me?" Sally asked raising an eyebrow as she motioned towards his smoking handgun. Raising an eyebrow Spike reached behind him and pulled out the gun he kept strapped behind his back and handed it to her. Accepting the gun Sally whirled around and sent out a stream of bullets towards the north door which three very stupid soldiers had been about to open. Oz soldiers weren't known for their intelligence, just their lousy aim. Nodding Spike began to casually walk towards the south door and raising her own eyebrow Sally followed, occasionally firing a warning shot as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Covering his back Sally accepted the extra shells he pulled from his pocket and slipping them into her own followed him out. As the sound of quite a few approaching soldiers reached their well-trained ears the two took off at a run, ignoring the bullets that whizzed by them.  
  
  
  
As they made their way through the hallways and passages the two didn't speak and if they did it was only to direct or get them to duck. Working as a team the two managed to get out of the building and were in Spike's ship and blasting off before the base even realized what was happening.  
  
"Why are you here?" Sally Poe asked looking over at the man who sat beside her without comment. Julia had mentioned him in a few letters and she had a feeling from the way he'd looked into her eyes that his relationship with her sister wasn't platonic. Her sister had always attracted men like bees to honey and Sally wondered how long the two had been a couple. Her sister hadn't written to her in several months but she'd said in her last letter that she was going into hiding so she hadn't really been expecting any. This guy had struck her as being better then Vicious though and Sally was happy that her sister had dumped the bastard. She'd never actually met Vicious but given the guy's name she was willing to bet that he wasn't exactly someone she wanted her sister involved with. Not that her opinion had mattered when Julia had gotten involved with Vicious before but she'd give Spike her stamp of approval when she saw Julia next. "So did Julia send you to find me?"  
  
"Yes." Spike said, not taking his eyes off the screen as he waited to see what game Oz was playing. They hadn't sent any ships after them and that alone made him suspicious. Put that in combination with how easily they'd gotten out of there and Spike was suspicious as hell.  
  
  
  
"Are we meeting her somewhere? I haven't seen her in a while." Sally said leaning up against the seat. Her cell definitely hadn't been the Ritz and in comparison this was looking pretty good to her.  
  
"What?" Spike said looking over at her in shock, she didn't know? But that couldn't be.yes it could he realized as he stared at her before forcing his searching eyes back to the front. After all, he was the only one who knew about the connection, no one would have known to contact her about it. He'd paid for Julia's funeral and burial, he hadn't even been sure of where to find Sally until a few days ago. "No, she won't be meeting us Sally." He said in a voice devoid of emotion. "Just sit back, we'll be near a drop off point soon, some friends of yours should be waiting there for you."  
  
Staring at his profile Sally felt a chill go down her spine as her senses kicked in with painful clarity. Something was wrong here and she had a sinking feeling that she knew why Julia wouldn't be meeting them. Julia had said she'd gotten herself into a dangerous situation and was in a lot of trouble, from Julia's description she didn't think Vicious was the type to take rejection well either. "Is she dead?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"When?"  
  
"Four months ago."  
  
"How?"  
  
"She was shot, she died quickly, she didn't feel any pain." Spike said looking over at her for a moment before turning his eyes back to the front again. He didn't talk about Julia but she deserved to know, even if it killed him inside to think about her much less talk about it. She shouldn't have felt any pain, she shouldn't have died period.  
  
"Was she alone?" Sally asked hoping not as she too stared straight ahead as she refused to break down and cry. There was a time and a place for everything and now was definitely not the time to lose her composure. He'd said it was quick but it wouldn't be the first time a person had said that to a grieving family when it wasn't true. She'd done it herself too many times to count.  
  
  
  
"I was with her." Spike said so softly that she almost missed it.  
  
"I'm glad." Sally said and though her mind raced with a thousand questions she could see much in the brief glances he'd given her to know that he was in an extreme amount of pain. He must have loved her very much and Sally found comfort in that. She was alone in the world now she realized with a feeling of helplessness, there was no one left. She and Julia had been orphaned in their teens and the grandmother that had taken over raising them was dead as well. Why she wondered as she stared aimlessly at the sky, why was she left here to suffer without them? Losing the battle tears began to stream down her face though she remained silent as she grieved for her loss. Life had never been fair but every time she looked around she wondered why she bothered to fight when so many didn't seem to care anymore. Was that why god had spared her so far? So that she would fight the fight others avoided. Death looked far more appealing. 'Who killed her? Was it Vicious?"  
  
"Indirectly, he hired the men." Spike said biting his lip to keep from saying anymore then he needed to.  
  
"Is the son-of-a-bitch dead?" Sally asked without emotion and Spike wasn't surprised to see pure and unadulterated hatred now burning in her eyes though most would have missed it. He could read her as well as he'd been able to read Julia. He had the same intent after Julia had died and he'd done what Sally wanted to do.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Did you kill him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good."  
  
"She left me a letter telling me a bit about you, asked me to watch out for you." Spike said as he fought the need to hold her. Instead he took his right hand off the steering wheel and placed it over her limp one. "Why she thought I'd do you any good is beyond me."  
  
  
  
He's dead inside Sally thought turning her eyes to his face as she saw the thoughts that had been running through her head clearly on his face. He's lost his will to fight she thought and for some reason that thought made her will to live come to life before the idea of death could take her over. Her sister had loved this man; she didn't know how she knew that but she did and maybe she couldn't bring her sister back or change anything from the past but she could do her sister this last favour and help the man she'd loved so much. "Had she lived you probably would have ended up my brother-in-law." She said rather then asked.  
  
"Possibly." Spike said without looking at her that she thought was more of a give away then his emotionless words.  
  
"I don't have anyone now, Julia was my only family. She was the most important person in the world and I'll probably never get over losing her. But I guess in a way she left me a brother to take her place. I've always gotten along better with guys then girls anyway." Sally said rubbing the remainder of her tears from her eyes with the back of her hands. "I don't know about you but I could use a family right about now or I'm going to sink."  
  
"People I care about die."  
  
"So do mine." Sally pointed out.  
  
Spike stared at her and realized she was quite serious. Was that why Julia had asked him to watch out for her sister, because she'd known that he'd be lost without her? Had she sent him to her sister because she knew that he'd need her as much as she needed him? It was crazy really, he didn't even know her and yet, and yet without even realizing it the fingers he'd set on her cold ones had laced with hers. Staring down at them he looked at them then back at her again. "Okay."  
  
  
  
NoTE: Well? What did you think? I know it's a crazy idea but I noticed the similarities when I looked up pics of Julia and I just had to do this fic, it was in my head demanding to be written. As I said before please review and I hope you'll stay tuned for the next chap. Also if possible please let me know everything you know about Spike and Julia's pasts cause I don't know as much as I'd like. 


	2. Radical Edward, Meet the Preventers

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and my eventually original characters. I am aware that in Cowboy Bebop earth is destroyed, this is in an alternate universe.

Radical Edward, Meet the Preventers

Three years later

Sally considered herself a patient woman but if Wulfei called her Onna one more time today she was hiring Spike to assassinate him. Of course maybe she'd ask Faye, that would make it even better since Wulfei would die by the hand of the "weaker" sex. Weak my ass Sally thought with a shake of her head, her braids falling against her Preventers uniform. Walking with a natural grace Sally looked around as she walked down the halls of the Preventers building where she'd been working since the war had ended. She'd been thinking more and more often that she might resign and learn to be a civilian again but ever time she did something reminded her of how important her work was. Along with helping out in the medical wing she also did some diplomatic work and some missions, usually with Wulfei at her side. Perhaps later on, when things were more settled. Then again she'd been saying that for a while now and every year she stayed. Spike was of the opinion that she was married to her work but she always pointed out that at least her job rarely put her in front of a gun anymore which hadn't shut him up but had made her feel better. Spike, she missed him Sally thought with a sad sigh. She'd only met him for the first time a little less then three years ago and already she couldn't imagine a life where she couldn't call him up and chat for a while. He and his group had become as much her family as the Preventers had, the only family she had really.

"Something wrong, Sally?" Sally turned and smiled at Quatre, always so concerned about everyone. With his baby face, blue eyes and blonde hair people often assumed that Quatre Winner was a rich little boy that you could walk all over. While it was true that he was rich he was also very intelligent, kind with a will anyone would admire Sally thought with a smile.

"I'm fine Quatre, just a bit tired." Sally said with another smile, not wanting him to worry about her. She had a feeling that there was something big going on behind Lady Une's doors and Quatre wasn't looking the greatest either. "You don't look much better then me in fact."

"Same as you on why too." Quatre said with a short laugh that didn't have a lot of humour behind it. He was tired and worn out from a busy day already; exactly what he had to look forward to later on. "Are you suppose to go to the meeting at two as well, Sally?" 

"I'll be there." Sally said with a smile of encouragement, feeling just as tired as her friend eighteen-year-old friend. "Any idea what it's about?"

"Nothing for sure but I'm pretty sure that whatever Lady Une wants to tell us it won't be good news, not good at all." Quatre said wearily as he slide his hair through his already slightly mussed hair. "Well I should be going, talk to you later?"

"You bet." Sally said, staying where she was as she watched him walk away. What was the meeting about she asked herself knowing that she'd have to wait several hours before she'd get the answers she was looking for.

"Someone has been hacking into our computers, leaving behind little messages to let us know they were there leaving no other traces of their presence. Military materials including weapons, codes and prototypes have also gone missing, the companies' computers altered so that it's impossible to figure out where they went missing. Yuy has gone over it all with a fine tuned pick and was unable to find any loose threads. We are assuming that the hackers in both cases are either the same person or are likely working together. We have no idea what information they have or why they are collecting it and the other missing items." Lady Une said, her eyes scanning the room as she looked at her men and women. As head of Preventers it was her job to see that peace in the world and colonies was kept and she had a feeling that these incidents indicated someone was trying to undermine that. "Have any of your contacts or weasels mentioned anything about a group that could fit under this?"

Everyone had names but most were shot down one by one for one reason or another. Who could be doing this Sally wondered as she looked at Heero's frustrated face. He was the greatest hacker she'd ever come across next to Edward, it took a lot to get anything past him and one of his walls as he'd done all the computer security in the building. This must really be getting to him Sally thought sympathetically as she knew how much perfection and succeeding meant to the Perfect Soldier. 

"Sally." Lucrezia Noin said, practically under her breath as she was sitting beside her best friend next to Milliardo. The tall Lieutenant looked at Sally pointedly and Sally raised an eyebrow at the look in Noin's purple eyes. What was going around under that dark purple hair Sally wondered as Noin repeatedly looked from Heero Yuy's laptop to her.

"Yeah." Sally said leaning closer to her friend so that she could hear better. The guys were all arguing about who it could possibly be anyway so it was doubtful they'd give them a double look or try to overhear the conversation.

"Could Edward have done this?" Noin asked as she looked at Sally pointedly so that Sally would know exactly which Edward she was referring to. Noin was the only one on this side of her family that she'd ever introduced to Spike and his group and Sally's eyes went wide as she saw where Noin was going. Though only sixteen Edward was right up there with Heero and if anyone could have done this it would be her. But Edward knew where Sally worked; she'd never do anything like this, no matter the price offered. Wouldn't she? Of course she would.

"She could but I'd bet my life she didn't." Sally said firmly, leaning closer just in case any of the guys had noticed that they weren't adding to the argument. "Do you think she might have done this, Noin?"

"Oh I have no doubt she could but I'm with you, she'd never get involved in something like this, especially since you work here." Noin said with an encouraging smile. "But do you think she might know who did do this?"

"You know someone who might know who did this?" Trowa asked. A tall brunette with large bangs covering half his face he'd been observing the two girls as he never shouted or argued unless he had to. Instantly the room went quiet as everyone turned to look at the two girls who were glaring at Trowa for eavesdropping.

"Is that right, Noin? Sally?" Lady Une asked, nailing her soldiers with a hard look.

"Possibly." Sally said rather weakly. She really didn't want to bring Edward into this after all. "It's a very slim chance sir, our-our informant isn't involved in this kind of stuff, the source just has some knowledge of hacking and other hackers."

"What's the source's username?" Heero asked, figuring that he could tell from the name alone. The only hacker he could think of that could have possibly have done this was the user called Radical Edward but Heero had never heard of the guy dealing in anything like this. Besides the guys trademark were evil happy faces, not taunting notes.

"Ummmm-Radical Edward." Sally said weakly, feeling her stomach sink when Heero's gaze sharpened on her as though she'd just said something of major importance.

"You know Radical Edward?" Heero demanded, looking at Sally in shock. Sally wasn't what you'd call a hacker by any means and Radical Edward was one of the greatest hackers Heero had ever come across in his lifetime. How on earth had Sally hooked up with the guy and did she know how he could get in touch with him? Heero would give a great deal to have a chance to talk shop with the elusive Radical Edward.

"Yes." Sally said seeing no way around it. "But this wasn't done by he-my source." Sally said quickly before she stumbled and called Edward her. It was known only by a handful that Edward was a girl and Sally wasn't about to be the one to spread it around. "I'll contact the source as soon as this is over and find out what I can."

"Do so now, I wish to speak to him personally." Lady Une said motioning to the computer communication system in the room.

"But-I." Sally said but closed her mouth when she saw the look on Lady Une's face. She was going to have to contact Edward. "Sir, I request that their be no visual at least, to protect my source." They could figure out that Edward was a girl but at least they wouldn't see what she looked like.

"That's acceptable." Lady Une said with a short nod. Getting up to the system Sally accessed the systems and hoped that Edward and the rest weren't home.

Edward was all set to take Ein for a walk when her computer began to start beeping, indicating that someone wished to speak to her. Since she didn't know a lot of people Edward was thrilled and throwing the leash Spike had made her get Edward did hand springs to the computer, accessing the keys with her feet as she continued to stand on her hands. "Hello?" Edward asked and gave a yell of delight when she saw Sally's image come up on screen. "MOM, what's up?"

"Hi you. How are things going." Sally said trying to hold a smile on her face as she tried to ignore the reactions behind her to someone calling her mom. Especially since she wasn't married and had never mentioned Edward, much less her tendency of calling Sally mom. "You sound a little funny, you all right?"

"Edward's fine, Mom, just upside down. Hey, your not getting picture, hold on a sec and Edward will fix it." Before Sally could protest Edward's upside down face was on the view screen, grinning back at her with her red hair sticking out ever which way. "That's better, right Mom? Hey Mom, you at a meeting? How come you called Edward if you're at a meeting?"

"That can't be Radical Edward." Heero said under his breath as he stared at the person grinning at Sally. She couldn't be more then sixteen and she actually had clothespins keeping her shirt stuck to her pants, probably so that it wouldn't show all her upper body when she walked on her hands.

Her eyes were gold coloured and child like, plus the short, red hair sticking out everywhere which made her look even younger then her form suggested. This was the great hacker he'd been wanting to meet?

"I need to ask you something." Sally said, feeling a major headache coming on. Why oh why had Trowa had to overhear what she'd been saying to Noin. "Do you know of anyone who's been hacking into Preventers and stealing military supplies from these bases?" Sally asked as she read them off while Edward caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought about it. 

"They stealing from my Mom? Edward will show them who is boss, no one causes my mom trouble." Edward said as she scrunched up her face in anger that anyone was causing her mom any troubles. Deciding to change position Edward moved her feet from the console and flipped back so that she was in a crouch before the computer. "Don't worry Mom, Edward will find the bad men and Spike Person will shoot them dead." 

"No, you don't need to tell Spike about this." Sally said, not wanting to get him involved in anymore trouble then what he got into on a regular basis. "So if you get any ideas you'll call me?"

"THAT DOG IS DEAD! WE ARE HAVING HIM FOR SUPPER!" A female voice screamed and with her hands over her ears Edward winced. "This is the last time I put up with this. EDWARD, WHERE'S THE F**KIN DOG?"

"Faye Faye is mad." Edward said, stating the obvious, feeling a little scared at the tone of Faye Faye's voice, after all, Jet Person wasn't home. Seconds later a purple haired woman, clothed in nothing more then a towel with drenched hair came running into the room, a gun in her hand and an evil look in her eye. "Uh oh, Fay Faye really mad."

"Faye…." Sally said weakly then gave a yell when Faye caught sight of Ein and fired the gun. Yelping in fear the dog came crashing over to Edward who grabbed the dog and cuddled him protectively in her arms.

"FAYE FAYE, leave Ein alone." Edward demanded, forgetting about Sally as she glared at Faye who still had the gun pointed at Ein, which meant she was pointing it at Edward.

"FAYE, YOU PUT THAT GOD DAMN GUN AWAY BEFORE I COME OVER THERE AND KICK YOUR ASS FROM THERE TO HERE!" Sally roared, completely forgetting about the people behind her, only seeing her little girl being threatened by Faye who was quite capable of accidentally causing Edward harm. "And if I don't then I'll ask Spike to and you know he'd love to do it! UNDERSTAND?????"

"Sals?" Faye said as she lowered the gun to peer at the screen, realizing with a sinking feeling that she was in trouble. "You looking for Spike?"

"No, I needed to talk to Edward. Now why don't you go finish whatever you were doing, you've already shown the guys behind me enough skin as it is." Sally said, the pounding in her head getting louder from the yelling. "Edward, you're okay right?"

"What the hell is going on down-awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. F**king son-of-a bitch!" Spike called out just before he came flying down the stairs as he tripped over a tote bag which had carelessly been left lying on the stairs. Cursing with every step he hit Spike landed at the bottom in a heap, not moving at all.

"Spike, Spike are you okay?" Noin said, bounding from her seat to come to Sally's side. Spike was just laying there after all and his body had taken such a beating over the years that even something as trivial as a fall could do serious damage.

"Edward, is he okay?" Sally asked with an equally worried expression on her face. Spike could take a lot but he'd hit some of those stairs pretty hard. "Spike, say something, anything."

"Whoever left that bag there is dog food." Spike groaned out as he lifted his head up, his body feeling as though a herd of stampeding elephants had just trampled him. "Sals? Lucrezia? You two there or should I add hearing things to my list of problems right now?" He added as he painfully turned his neck back and forth, looking for them.

"We're on the communicator, Spike. That's where we are." Sally said with a smirk, glad that he was all right. She'd patched him up enough times to know his tolerance for pain and how he spent a lot of his time feeling it. "Are you sure you should be getting up?" She added as she watched Spike slowly get to his feet, his hands pressed into his back as he ignored the fact that he felt even worse then before.

"I'll be fine, Golden Girl." Spike said with a charming smile that turned into a grimace when he turned his neck slightly to get a look at Faye. "And why the hell are you in here parading around in a towel?"

"Oh shut up." Faye said sticking her tongue out at him. She would have crossed her arms in front of her chest but no way was she giving Spike that kind of view.

"Whatever, Jet'll be here in a couple of minutes so get dressed will ya? Edward, why does Ein look like he's going to keel over at any moment." Spike asked looking at the dog shaking in Edward's arms. "And how are things with you two sexy ladies?"

"We're fine." Noin said with a wink, forgetting temporarily that Milliardo was in the room. "A normal day at home huh?"

"You betcha, Gorgeous. Never a dull moment around here." Spike said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his mussed up hair.

"Faye Faye tried to shoot Ein but Mom scared her." Edward said proudly once Faye had left the room. Setting Ein down on the ground she sent Spike her angriest look. "Someone's being mean to Mom, Edward is going to find out who and make the mean men pay. No one hurts Mom right Spike Person."

"Someone giving you lovely ladies trouble." Spike said, a hard look coming into his eyes. Sally was under his protection, no one, but no one caused her any trouble. And Lucrezia was a good friend of his, he wasn't about to let anything happen to her either, soldier or not. "Who are they Sals?"

"I don't know that yet." Sally said quickly, knowing that look in his eyes all too well. Her knight in shining armour she thought with a smile. His armour may be a bit tarnished but he still dragged it out every time there was even a hint of trouble. "I just wanted Edward to check out some hacking that's being done, nothing to worry about."

"Is she lying through her teeth, Gorgeous?" Spike asked, sending a smile full of charm in Noin's direction. She'd tell him if Sally was in trouble.

"No, she's not in any danger at all, I'm keeping her out of trouble for you." Noin said with a reassuring wink. "And we-ah better be going, we have a lot of work to do. We'll both talk to you later, alright?"

"Okay, Auntie Noin Noin. Edward will find the bad men for you, Edward promises." Edward said with a smile, pushing Spike slightly out of the way so that they could see her face clearly. "Say bye bye Spike Person, Edward wants to get to work."

"Bye Golden Girl, bye Gorgeous." Spike said with a smile that wasn't exactly and completely genuine. "Let me know if there's anything we can do on this end."

"We will." Sally promised and Noin echoed. Pressing some buttons the screen went blank and the two women turned around to see everyone staring at them as though they'd suddenly appeared out of nowhere with tentacles and bulging eyes. "What?" Sally said almost defiantly. "I'm sorry, Sir." Sally added, suddenly remembering that Lady Une had wished to speak to Edward. "Since Edward didn't know anything about it I didn't think you'd want to speak to her."

"That's-quite all right." Lady Une said faintly, busy trying to comprehend everything. Sally was a mother? She didn't look old enough and that girl-well-look at her.

"Sir, should we continue with the meeting?" Noin asked, looking every where but at Milliardo. Spike and his flirting, God. "I'm sure that Edward will contact us as soon as she gets any information pertaining to these incidents."

"If she doesn't torture them to death online." Sally said under her breath. Edward had a blind spot when it came to her Mom and Sally had a feeling that Edward wasn't going to simply turn over the information to them without interfering. At the very least she could see Edward telling Spike where to find the men. Not a pretty picture.

"That was the legendary hacker Radical Edward?" Heero said looking them alternately in the eyes. He couldn't believe that the hacker was that red head kid who looked like she should be in pre-school or at the very least a correctional institution.

"Yup, that's my girl." Noin said with a smile, use to Edward by now. "Don't worry Lady Une, I assure you that Heero's admiration isn't displaced, despite her appearance and-ah-childlike behaviour."

"Ah-who was the babe in the towel?" Duo asked, a smile on his face.

"Don't even think about it, Maxwell. Besides, Quatre's the only one who would interest her long term and that's only because he's loaded." Sally said with a smile of her own.

"Baka." Wufei said with a smirk, count on Duo to ask such a stupid question. Women were always the first and last thing on the stupid moron's head.

"I take it they're all friends of yours?" Milliardo asked with a tinge of frost and Noin couldn't help but be a bit flattered and hopefully that it had to do with Spike's flirting. Of course she and Spike hadn't been more then friends for a long time having only dated for a couple of weeks. Of course he didn't need to know that.

"Pretty much." Sally said with a sigh. 

"I think we'll call this meeting to an end." Lady Une said, figuring correctly that there was nothing to be done until they had more to go on. "I want everyone to investigate these incidents and find out whatever you can, no matter how small or insignificant. We'll meet back here tomorrow, same time and room. Understood?"

"Understood." Everyone said and slowly made their way out of the room, lagging slightly behind on the chance that something more was to happen. 

"Don't worry Sally, at least we caught them on a good day." Noin pointed out as she patted her friend's shoulder reassuringly. "And even if they let any information about Edward leak they couldn't really do anything with what little we gave them."

"Remind me again why I don't just commit myself to an insane asylum?" Sally asked wearily, rubbing the pads of her fingers into her aching temples. 

"Hey, the day can't get any worse now can it?" Noin pointed out comfortingly. "It can only get better."

Well that's it for now, hope you enjoyed and liked. Thanks to all those who have been reviewing and please continue to do so cause I love to hear from you.


	3. Time To Pay The Piper

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and original characters. Do not hold me responsible for any mental damage this fic might cause you because you should have realized by now that I'm nuts and so are my fics.

Time To Pay The Piper

Noin looked at her coffee cup and wondered why she suddenly felt as though someone had just walked over her grave. Lifting the cup to her lips Noin pushed the feeling aside and concentrated on thinking about something else. It had been two weeks since they'd contacted Edward about the computer hacker and she had an easy feeling about that. She knew Edward, knew the girl's skills with the computer, if there was anything to trace she'd have found it by now. In other words either Edward hadn't been able to find out what was going on or Edward had decided to take matters into her own hands. None of those were ideal options. Setting the cup back down her eyes moved to the picture that sat on her desk of her and Milliardo from their academy days. It seemed like so long ago, now look at them. Heaving a sigh Noin rubbed her hands over her face, her mind so focused on other things that she almost didn't hear the knock on her door. But it sunk in eventually and Noin with a sigh bade whoever it was to enter.

"Ma'am, there are two people here to see you." The soldier said and Noin suppressed a grin at the way he was blushing red and trying to look everywhere but at her. The soldier must be new, judging her by her reputation, a reputation that was often rather undeserved in her opinion.

"Who are they, did they say what they wanted? Did they have an appointment?" Noin asked with a kind look that only made the poor kid turn an even more vibrant shade of red. Either way she didn't win, a usual event lately. But who could be here to see her, anyone she could even possibly be expecting would have come to her office themselves instead of having someone sent up to get her.

"Well the young lady said to tell you that Edward and Jet Person were here to see you." The soldier said carefully, not looking at her. He had a feeling that the girl was mentally unbalanced and it was against his better judgement to bother the Commander with some crack off the street. He hadn't even wanted to bother the commander to begin with.

"Edward and Jet are here? In the building?" Noin said as she bounced to her feet, her eyes drilling into the soldiers who'd lost more then a little color at his commanding officer's reaction. "She said her name was Edward?

"Yes ma'am, she looks to be fairly young, mid teams with red hair cut short, very thin with gold colored eyes. The gentlemen looks to be in his forties with dark hair and eyes, well built, his one arm appeared to be a mechanical replacement. Large scar on his face as well, bald on top." The soldier said as he described them carefully, wondering what the people's connection to Commander Noin. 

"Where are they?" Noin asked more sharply then she'd intended. For Edward to have come here, with Jet, something big had to be up. Had Edward found out who had been hacking into the Preventers mainframe? Or was she here to tell them that she'd had Spike and Faye take care of the matter for them? Somehow she had a bad feeling that it would be the latter as oppose to the first. God help them all, maybe Edward had taken care of the hackers personally, given her role models. Oh boy, this was not good, good at all.

"They're downstairs, at the main desk. They asked for Doctor Poe first but she's not in the building currently, out to lunch according to the secretary. When they were informed of this they asked for you." The soldier said with a slightly confused feeling. The girl had originally asked for her Aunt Noin Noin, the older man had corrected her, asking for Commander Lucreazia Noin. What was going on here, Aunt Noin Noin?

"Lead the way." Noin said as she came around her desk, already to the door by the time the soldier had even processed her orders. Hustling after her the soldier quickly led the way to the elevator, his mind churning with the possibilities, none of them really seeming to be a logical and possible conclusion.

"When is Aunt Noin Noin getting here, Edward asked the man nicely." Edward said as she tapped her sandalled feet against the marble floor. She hated to wear footwear of any kind but Jet Person said that they probably wouldn't let them in the building if she wasn't wearing footwear so she was wearing the stupid sandals and hating it. Where was she; if she didn't hurry up then Edward was going after the hackers herself instead of informing Mom and Aunt Noin Noin first. She wanted to set Spike Person and Fay Faye on them, but she'd promised Mom and it was a matter of honor, course she'd come to tell Mom and if she wasn't here then technically she'd kinda kept her word-kinda.

"I'm sure she'll be here any moment, settle down kid." Jet said with a smile, smiling nicely at the secretary in front of him, resulting in the poor woman blanching white. Okay, that hadn't worked out the way he'd planned. They were getting odd stared all around and Jet hoped that Noin would get there soon before something happened, like them being mistaken for terrorists or something.

"Don't wanna wait." Edward said stubbornly but made an effort to stay still, a difficult thing to do. Looking around to try and distract herself Edward's eyes caught on a group of men walking in, looking to be slightly older then herself. It was the one on the far right though that interested her because he bore a striking resemblance to Heero Yuy, the famous hacker. Of course it couldn't be, but wait a minute, couldn't it be? Looking closely she tried to picture the pictures she'd seen of him and with a growing smile realized that it could be him. Moving closer Edward looked closely at Jet who seemed to be trying to smile the secretary into not worrying and wasn't paying her any attention. Moving quickly Edward practically jumped in front of the boy before practically sticking her face into his. "You Heero Yuy?"

"Yes, who are-Radical Edward?" Heero said as he stared into familiar gold eyes. As before her short red hair was sticking out every which way but at least there were no pins holding her pants to her shirt this time. In fact she looked rather normal for once.

"You know Edward? Mom or Aunt Noin Noin tell you about Edward?" Edward asked, beaming at the very idea that he would know who she was. She'd met up with him several times online and Mom and Aunt Noin Noin had told her lots about him and how great with computers he was. He was nearly good as her and Edward had always wanted to meet him in person.

"I was at the meeting two weeks ago when Sally called you about the hacker problem. Have you found anything?" Heero asked, willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. He hadn't been able to find anything but perhaps she could-as humiliating it was to admit.

"Course, Edward found those bad hackers, Edward was going to punish them but Edward promised Mom and Aunt Noin Noin not to. Edward really didn't want to keep her word but a promise is a promise." Edward said as she scrunched up her nose. "Are these Heero Person's Gundam pilot friends?"

"Okay-hi, I'm Duo Maxwell." The boy beside Heero said, sticking out a hand. "I may run and I may hide but Duo Maxwell never tells a lie. Pleasure to meet you Edward."

Looking at the person in front of her Edward questioned for a moment that this was a guy but she remembered Noin saying that Duo Maxwell was a guy despite the hair. "Nice to meet you, Duo Person. You piloted the Death Scythe, right?"

"That's right. This guy beside me is Quatre." Duo said with a grin as he pointed to the guy beside him who smiled at Edward and said hello. "The guy with the bangs over half of his face if Trowa and the Chinese guy is Wufei."

"Nice to meet you." Trowa said with a nod, Wufei giving a short bow.

"It's nice to meet you too. That is Jet Person, he's here to make sure Edward don't get arrested again." Edward said with a roll of her eyes as she pointed in the man's direction, Jet watching them carefully, waiting for her to do something that would require him to interfere. "Edward got arrested because Edward disturbed the peace. Edward was only walking on her hands instead of feet but the Cop People said that Edward was being bad." Edward said with a shrug. "Cop People got yelled at a lot by Spike Person, then they arrested him too. We got to stay in a cell all night, then the Police People let us out cause Edward was giving them headaches."

"Do you always talk in the third person?" Duo asked, thoroughly fascinated by the idea. He'd never heard of someone doing that before. "And repeat girl's names twice and add Person onto guys'?"

"Edward always talks like this, even though it annoys Spike Person and Fay Faye sometimes. Where is Aunt Noin Noin, she should be here by now." Edward said as she spun in a quick circle like a ballerina. "Edward hate waiting."

"Did you ask the secretary to inform Noin that you were here?" Quatre asked with a kind smile.

"Yes, the stupid man didn't want to let Edward and Jet Person see Mom and Aunt Noin Noin but Edward say that Edward and Jet Person aren't going anywhere till we see them. The secretary made the stupid man go get Aunt Noin Noin."

"Why do you call Sally Mom and Noin Aunt Noin Noin?" Wufei asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at the childish onna. Perhaps she was dropped on her head as a child, either that or exposed to hazardous materials at a young age.

"Edward call Mom Mom cause she's Edward's Mom. Spike Person says Mom is not Edward's mother really but Edward thinks of her as Mom so she's Mom. Edward call Aunt Noin Noin, Aunt Noin Noin because she is like Edward's aunt. Edward wanted Aunt Noin Noin to marry Spike Person but Jet Person said it would never work. Edward thinks it would have worked if not for stupid Zechs Person." Edward said as she stuck out her lower lip in a pout. 

"Oh I like her." Duo said with a wide grin. "I got to say Heero, you've finally found the perfect girl for you. She's as weird as you are, loves computers, wears spandex and dislikes Milliardo, perfect for each other." He added just before Heero's hand came up to hit him in the back of the head. "Ouch!"

"Quiet, baka." Heero said with a voice that bore no argument. "Here comes Noin." He added with relief as he caught sight of Noin coming towards them at a dead run from the left.

"AUNT NOIN NOIN!" Edward hollered as she ran over to Noin, arms wide as she threw herself at Noin, wrapping herself around Noin like a vine. "Aunt Noin Noin, you're finally here!"

"Hello Edward." Noin said with a smirk as she tried to get in air while hugging the girl back. Even though Edward was sixteen and a half she still acted like a pre-schooler about some things, like greeting people she cared about. "How are you?"

"Edward is good, Edward keep her promise to not go after Stupid Bad People, instead Edward brought information and brought Jet Person to help you get the bad stupid guy that works here and has been acting bad." Edward said as she pulled a computer disk from the holder she had strapped to her thigh. "Here is the proof, Aunt Noin Noin, Edward kept her word but Spike Person says he'll blow them all to f**kin hell if you want Aunt Noin Noin."

"Thanks, Edward for showing restraint and keeping your word." Noin said with a grin as she accepted the disk. "Who is the leak here?"

"A guy by the name of Twitters, know him?" Jet asked as he moved over, a smile on his face. He'd always liked Noin and had wished that she and Spike might have got together but it really hadn't been meant to be. Spike still loved Julia and Noin loved her Zechs.

"Yeah, I know him." Noin said with a hard look in her eye; she was not a happy camper at all and Twitters was in a hell of a lot of trouble. "Nice to see you, Jet." Noin added as she unwinded herself from Edward to give the man a hug, glad to see that Edward hadn't appeared to have caused any international disasters. "Keeping everyone at home in line as usual?"

"Trying to, don't know about succeeding." Jet said with a smirk as he looked at Edward then at Noin. "Everyone sends their best of course, even Faye." He added with a smirk, recalling the tangent Faye had been on two weeks ago when Sally had threatened her with physical harm. The two women normally got along pretty well though and he'd been eventually been able to make Faye see Sally's side of the events.

"Good to hear, you two care to come along while I roast Twitters ass?" Noin asked, knowing that Edward at least deserved to be there since she hadn't been able to do anything herself.

"Yea, Jet Person and Edward will watch your back, Aunt Noin Noin." Edward said as she rapidly shook her head up and down so that her head was a red blur for several minutes. "I would have brought Ein to help too but Spike Person said no."

"Well then lets go, you guys coming?" Noin asked the pilots who had been watching with interest. Technically she didn't need them but she loved watch Heero interrogate people with nothing more then a glare. Plus the other pilots were good intimidation tools, even Quatre. "I could use you for scaring the hell out of him."

"Sure, we'd love to." Duo said brightly, still massaging the back of his head where Heero had hit him. These friends of Noin's and Sally's were really interesting and he didn't want to miss a moment of the action, who knew what the girl would do next? "Right guys?" Duo said as he looked at them and they all nodded except for Heero but Duo knew he'd come because of this Twitters guy who was about to be seriously roasted.

"Lets go then." Edward beamed and so they trooped off towards the elevator, poor Twitters having no idea exactly what was coming for him. Had he had any idea he most likely would have jumped out of his window, death being preferable to facing the wrath of the Bebops and Gundam pilots.

Twitters was a small man that Edward thought reminded her of a rat. His nose actually was kind of big for his face so that wasn't too far off. His eyes, brown as his hair held nothing but welcome when Noin walked into his office but slowly faded away as she was followed by a large, threatening looking man, a teenage girl with a rather threatening look on her face and the Gundam pilots. They weren't looking too pleased either. "Commander, Lieutenants, what can I do for you?" Twitters asked in a small voice to go along with his size. 

"Hello Twitters, how's the computer work going?" Noin asked sweetly as she nodded towards his machine, which hummed lightly in the silence of the room. Twitters didn't take it as a good sign that Noin was acting sweet.

"Fine, is there something I can do for you?" Twitters asked nervously, looking from her to all the other people in the room and then back to her. Something was up and he had a feeling that he was in deep trouble, very deep trouble.

"Yes, you can prepare to tell me everything you know about the people who hired you to betray your fellow officers and willing put your self in a situation that would likely end with myself and other officers tearing you limb from limb until you beg for death." Noin said as her eyes went cold and hard as she watched all the colour drain from the man's face rapidly. "You didn't really think you could get away with it, did you, Twitters? 

"I don't know what you're talking about, Commander." Twitters said though his eyes said he knew exactly what she was talking about. He wanted to run but there was no way to go and Yuy would probably put a bullet in his head before he got out of his seat. Oh God help him but they'd promised that they'd keep him safe, that no one would ever be able to trace anything back to him. They had lied.

"You know exactly what she's talking about." Edward said with a hard look that was in complete odds with her early behaviour and actions. "You're a bad person Twitters Person, you are a liar and you betrayed my Mom and Aunt Noin Noin. We're going to make you very sorry."

"You really shouldn't have betrayed us, Twitters, a really bad idea." Heero said as he moved forward to stand beside Noin. "Now its time for you to pay the piper."

The rest of this scene was censored out due to violent content, swearing, and other unmentionable details the Gundam pilots and Bebops will inflict on poor Twitters.

Well that's it for now, more to come shortly if I have anything to say about it. Hope you enjoyed and please review cause I'd love to hear from you.


	4. Introducing Spike and Faye

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the plot and original characters. 0_^  
  
Introducing Spike and Faye The Gundam pilots and the rest of the group left Twitters in his nice new cell and all tried to forget about the way the little prig had acted. No such luck.  
  
"He screamed like a little girl, hurt Edward's ears." Edward said with a roll of her eyes as they walked down the hallway. "Edward wish Heero Person had shot the son of a bitch. Quatre Person should have let him." Edward added, still annoyed that Quatre hadn't let them shoot Twitters once he'd started to scream like a wounded screech owl.  
  
"You and me both." Duo said as he rubbed his ears, which were still ringing slightly from the high notes Twitters had managed to hit. "I can't believe that a guy can scream like that. Made me ashamed to be a guy the way he started crying and begging for us to have mercy on him before you guys even really started the interigation."  
  
"Well considering what Heero and Jet were threatening to do to him it's a wonder he didn't die of a heart attack." Quatre said with a roll of his eyes. "You kind of can't blame the guy for screaming like a strangled cat when you were threatening to rip out his intestines and strangle him with them. And those were the nice things you threatened to do."  
  
"Well it worked, didn't it?" Noin said with a smirk that changed to a frown. "Now we know that we are in a lot of trouble and that this isn't going to be easy to fix. From what he said this seems to be a large group and a smart one at that. They don't tell a lot and it's strictly on a need to know basis. That tells me two important things, one is that this organization has been in the making for a fair amount of time and that this is a lot bigger then a bit of stealing and hacking. The question is what their real intentions are and what's going to happen now that they know we have Twitters?"  
  
"Well we have the other names on the list and Edward will keep looking for Aunty Noin Noin." Edward said with a determined smile and a thumbs up. "We'll help you, right Jet Person?"  
  
"Any help we can give you only have to ask, Lucreazia." Jet agreed as he laid a reassuring hand on Noin's shoulder. "All it takes is a word and we're there for you, all of us."  
  
"I know you guys would be, no matter what." Noin said with a smile for him, knowing that no matter what they'd be fighting at her side if she needed them, they were like family and she knew that no matter what happened she could count on them being there to give her a hand if she needed it. "If it gets bad I promise I'll give you guys a call."  
  
"So exactly what is it you do, Mr. Black?" Quatre asked, curious as to why these people would be of help in these kind of matters. They already knew that Edward was a hacker but what was Jet?  
  
"Well I use to be a police officer but I've been retired from the force for a number of years now. Right this minute I'm a bounty hunter, plus I take care of my fellow team mates who seem to attract trouble like honey attracts bees. So you could say I'm a babysitter and nanny as well."Jet said with a weary smile as he pictured all the trouble he'd gotten into over the years. "You could say I'm a jack of all trades, Quatre."  
  
"That sounds cool." Duo said with a wide grin. "So is that what Spike and Faye do? They're bounty hunters like you?"  
  
"That they are, they both are or at least that's what they're suppose to be when they aren't risking their necks or finding trouble at the speed of light." Jet said with a wink. "Speaking of which I understand you guys are quite good at finding trouble yourselves, we should compare notes some time and see who's had it worse."  
  
"You could say that."Trowa said with a weary look of his own, thinking of the impossible situations they'd gotten themselves into over the years. It was amazing that they'd lived this long and he often wondered what on earth had kept them from Hell this long. "So since you're bounty hunters I take it you travel a lot."  
  
"You betcha, we've been all over the place." Edward said with a wide grin that faded into a thoughtful look as her attention was caught by something. Hmmm that looked like a- "Get down, Edward see sniper at eleven a clock."  
  
"Son of a bitch." Jet grounded out before grabbing Noin, pulling her to the floor, covering her body with his own just as the first bullet came crashing through the window, shattering glass all over them. Several more rounds were fired and then finally silence. Looking over Jet saw that Heero had grabbed Edward and had pressed her against the wall under the window, using his body as a shield as he stood, crouched in front of her. Trowa, Quatre and Duo were also on the floor, Trowa in a crouch as well with his gun in hand, pointing towards the window. "Everyone okay?"  
  
"Sir." A soldier called out and everyone looked to see several fully armed soldiers running forward, armed and prepared to do battle. Not that they could do any good was the thoughts going through the pilots and bounty hunters heads. Once a target was missed and was alerted only a moron would stick around to try to get off another shot. Ten to one whoever had shot at them was long gone by now, bidding his or her time till there was a better opportunity for success.  
  
"We're all right, the sniper?" Noin demanded from her position on the floor, Jet not about to let her up until they were sure that there was not going to be any more bullets flying towards their heads. Odds were that the coast was clear but he wasn't taking any chances.  
  
"Being chased down, ma'am." The soldier said as he gave Noin a snappy salute. "You're clear to get up, Sir."  
  
"Thank you, soldier." Noin said as Jet got up and taking the hand he extended Noin pulled herself up, leaning over to dust her pants. "That was a close one."  
  
"Heero Person tried to save Edward's life!" Edward said as Heero moved away and stood up, staring at the window in case the sniper was stupid and was willing to try for another shot. Bouncing to her feet Edward stared at Heero with eyes shining as brightly as ever. "Heero Person protected Edward, risked his life! Heero Person is Edward's hero!" Edward declared as she popped out in front of Heero and threw her arms around the startled soldier. "Edward is Heero Person's friend for life! Anything you ever need Edward will get it for you."Edward declared before hugging him again, not even noticing that he was standing as still and as straight as a ruler.  
  
"Let me go." Heero said in his most deadly voice, which held a tinge of disbelief. People very rarely hugged him and he never particular cared for it, which they seemed to pick up on so they tended to avoid doing it so as not to piss him off. The little maniac obviously wasn't getting the point as she just hugged him harder while looking up at him adoringly. "Now."  
  
"If you say so." Edward said before moving to stand at his side. "Edward knows that she and Heero Person are going to be the best of friends."  
  
"Oh boy." Quatre said as he looked from the beaming redhead to the stony- faced soldier. Heero didn't have a high tolerance level and Quatre didn't want to see poor Edward's feelings crushed because Heero had never learned manners. "Don't give him all the credit, Edward. You spotted the sniper, you probably saved some lives or at the least injuries. We owe you."  
  
"It was nothing, Edward only saw the bad person and let everyone know, anyone would have done what Edward did." Edward said with a fine blush on her cheeks as she smiled over at Quatre before going back to staring at Heero. "Spike Person always saying that Edward must always be on her guard because someone might try to put Edward in a mental institution or an asylum."  
  
"That I can believe." Heero muttered under his breath as he watched Edward out of the corner of his eye to make sure she didn't try to hug him again. If she tried he was going to put his gun to her head; maybe then she'd get the message already.  
  
"Well it looks like things are escalating fast." Noin said with a sigh as she stared at the shattered windowpanes. âE?Looks like we're going to have to call in some help, BeBop style."  
  
Sally had Edward in an iron hold, which was probably, the only thing keeping Edward from Heero's side where she most definitely wasn't wanted. Sally could only sigh as she tried to figure out a way to make Edward realize that Heero protecting her was not a sign of affection or even simple caring, it had been reflex but Edward didn't seem to be getting that. "So when did they say they'd get here, Jet?" Sally asked as she smiled hopefully at the older man. He'd called to let Spike know what had happened and Spike had decided he and Faye needed to come in and see that everyone was okay personally. Normally Sally would have started hyperventilating at the idea but Noin was right in that they would come in handy.  
  
"They should be here any time." Jet said as he looked at his watch then at Edward and Sally with a small smile of amusement.  
  
"So exactly what role do you expect them to play?" Heero asked Noin who was sitting down in the conference room beside Milliardo who was looking none to please with the world in general. Milliardo had looked worried before when he'd come in after hearing about the sniper but it had turned to barely leashed anger at the news that Spike and Faye would be joining them.  
  
"They've got contacts that we can use and they need to be on their guards anyway, the people responsible might have already made the connection between us catching Twitters and Jet and Edward's arrival." Noin said with a sigh as she played with a pen in front of her. "I'm sorry you guys got dragged into this, Edward, Jet."  
  
"No problem, Noin. You didn't drag us into this and we would have gotten involved anyway as soon as we'd heard you were in some trouble, you wouldn't have been able to keep us out of it." Jet said with a comforting smile in her direction. "And judging from the wolf whistle I just heard one would assume that Faye and Spike have arrived."  
  
"Ah, sir. The two individuals you mentioned have arrived." A soldier said as he walked into the room a second after Jet's comment. The soldier was blushing a bright red and Noin couldn't help but grin, feeling sorry for the poor guy. Obviously the sight of Faye had done the poor boy in, which was exactly why Faye dressed, and acted the way she did a lot of the time. Having guys too busy staring at you to notice that you were a threat cam in handy.  
  
"Let them in." Noin ordered and grinned even wider when the boy backed into the door then finally managed to get the door open after several tries. She could hear the sound of voices and then moments later Spike came walking in with Faye behind him, waving good bye to the soldiers she'd obviously been charming up while they'd waited to come in. Spike as usual looked casual and laid back in his normal suit with his hair all in disarray, his eyes seeming vacant thought Noin knew they were taking in everything. Faye was wearing her typical yellow suit, which as usual covered only what it had to; in order to be legal. She had sunglasses perched on her head and a catty smile, which she aimed at each of the men in the room except for Jet who she just winked at.  
  
"Well it looks like you got out of it in one piece, Beautiful. You two okay?" Spike asked, as he looked Noin over before turning his gaze to Sally and Edward, raising an eyebrow at the fact that Sally appeared to be restraining Edward. Interesting.  
  
"We're fine, Spike Person. Jet Person protected Auntie Noin Noin and Heero Person protected Edward." Edward said with a beaming smile as she pointed to one of the soldiers who Spike sized up pretty quick. The kid was a soldier pure and simple. That and he appeared to view Edward as some sort of threat because he was watching her intently as though he expected Edward to pounce on him. Maybe she already had Spike thought with a grin as took into account Sally holding down Edward.  
  
"Well that's good." Spike agreed as he pushed the thought aside, more important things to think about then why the soldier was looking at Edward like that. "So who are we after and do you want them back in one piece or not?"  
  
"Well right now we don't even have theory as to who's behind all this." Noin said with a frown as she remained in her seat while she watched Spike take the seat on the other side of Sally with Faye moving over to sit beside Duo who was smiling at her charmingly. Heaven help them. "Since Twitters didn't even have the chance to alert anyone that he'd been caught we have to assume one of three things. One is that the sniper was pre planned and had nothing to do with our discovery. Two is that they somehow tracked down Edward as having been looking into their operation and sent the sniper to kill her. Or three, that someone else by some miracle got wind that we were interrogating Twitters and somehow got a sniper here in the hour since we'd taken him in. My guess is number one but the question is who were they aiming for. Have you guys missed off anyone lately who has this kind or money or skill?" Noin asked as she looked over at Spike who grinned back at her cheekily.  
  
"When do we not have someone trying to kill us." Faye muttered as she rolled her eyes. "Though off the top of my head I'd say it wasn't one of us, few people can actually identify Edward and having Jet dead is not worth the money or risk this would amount to. It's not like losing him would end the group or stop us though we would miss him-kinda." Faye added with a smirk in Jet's direction.  
  
"I figured it was likely one of us." Noin said with a weary smile of her own. "We seem to attract bullet fire as much as you two. Okay boys, you have any ideas?" Noin asked as she looked over at the G-boys who had so far been silent as they'd studied the latest members to the meeting.  
  
"Since Peacecraft wouldn't risk you odds are it wasn't aimed for me."Heero said simply, giving Milliardo a look that was meant to irritate. The elder Peacecraft wasn't too please to see Spike either which pleased Heero, it made up for the fact that the damn girl was still staring at him like he was god. It was damn unnerving and he doubted nothing short of killing her was going to change that.  
  
"So this is the infamous Lightning Baron." Spike said and he lost some of his casual appearance as he looked at Milliardo with interest. He'd been wanting to meet the guy Lucreazia was so hung up on for a while now and he was pleased to finally get the chance. If one only looked at the guy physically they'd probably think royal brat, that was until you got to the eyes. Those were a soldier's eyes and they were none to please to meet his own. Well, well, well, his royal highness didn't like him, what a surprise Spike thought with a smirk, he wasn't too fond of the baron either. "You're a lot shorter then I expected."  
  
"Really." Milliardo said in a frosty tone that seemed comparable to frostbite. "Sorry to disappoint you."  
  
"Don't worry about it, I've learned to expect the unexpected. Lucreazia's told me a lot about you, you two being friends and all. Speaking of which what are you doing for dinner Gorgeous? Golden Girl? Jet mentioned this awesome restaurant about a half an hour from here with great Italian." Spike said as he grinned at Lucreazia rakishly, deliberately trying to rile the prince and succeeding if the added frost in Peacecraft's eyes was any indication. Well serves you rgiht for not treating her well enough that you didn't have to worry about some guy stealing her away.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Sally said with a small smile, aware exactly of what Spike was doing. Spike had kind of adopted Noin when he'd adopted Sally and was just as protective of Lucreazia as he was of Sally, which was very, very over protective. Hence Spike was doing his best to needle Milliardo for all that he'd done to Noin in the past.  
  
"I'm in." Noin agreed though she didn't quite manage to hide her smile. She was aware of what Spike was doing and sent him a big smile, silently thanking him even though it wasn't really necessary. "Back to the issue then. Quatre? Wufei? Trowa? Duo?"  
  
The pilots were quiet as they thought it over, each of them coming up with some very long lists of people who wanted them dead but none that they could think of that could be linked to this. "Well as far as I know it wasn't for me." Quatre said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Of course it could be but no one comes to mind that would pull something like this, especially when they're are better places to come after me."  
  
"I'm not aware of anyone who wishes me taken out at the moment, I will however look into it and get back to you if I find anything to the contrary." Wufei said with a nod of his dark head. "Such pathetic Bakas to attack with onnas in the way, dishonorable."  
  
"I don't know of anyone either but will look into it." Trowa said before anyone could comment on the onna comment.  
  
"And as for me I don't know of anyone besides Heero who wants to shoot me at the present time but I'll let you know if I find out anything to differ." Duo said in a cheery voice, too busy admiring Faye to really care about what was being said.  
  
"What about you, Beautiful? Know anyone who wants you six feet under currently?" Spike asked as he raised an eyebrow in Noin's direction.  
  
"Not off the top of my head, or at least none that would attempt to pull off something like this to see me there." Noin said with a shrug of her own. "So I guess the first thing we have to figure out is who exactly the son of a bitch was aiming for." 


	5. Strange Family

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and the original characters. Thanks to all those who reviewed in the past and I hope you continue to do so. Also have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. ^_^

A Strange Family

An hour or so later

"Damn this is like finding a needle in a haystack." Sally said as she rubbed her eyes, which were bothering her for some reason. She obviously hadn't gotten enough sleep last night and at the very least needed to sit back and put her feet up instead of making this list, however important the list was. They were brainstorming possibly suspects for what was going on, naming everyone that they could think of that even might be remotely involved. It was getting to be a damn long list and it was only getting longer by the second. 

"You know the fact that we have so many names is really rather depressing, you work so hard to get them under control but another couple just appear to replace the lost one." Quatre said rubbing his own eyes, wishing that this was easier then it was going to be. They were always so stretched out already; they didn't have the manpower to handle this kind of thing at the moment.

"Well that's how things always are with infestations." Heero said with a shrug, not put off by this at all though annoyed at the amount of manpower and time this was likely going to take to bring under control. They weren't exactly full of spare time and soldiers. "But we'll find these bugs, just a matter of when and where."

"And we will help too. We're very good at taking out the trash. Right, Spike Person?" Edward said looking over at Spike for confirmation though her eyes kept straying to Heero, who aware of her looks was not sitting so easily in his chair. Much to the amusement of those who noticed. "Edward can help Heero Person on the computers tracing the transmissions and that kind of thing. Jet Person, Spike Person and Faye Faye will help Auntie Noin Noin and Mommy out too."

"Yeah, you know you have only to ask." Spike said with a lazy smile at Noin, knowing that she knew Edward hadn't even had to state the obvious. If someone was trying to hurt one of his girls they were damn well going to have to get through him first, Spike thought darkly though none of that showed on his easy going face. It very rarely ever did.

"We know." Sally said with a wide smile for both of them before turning back to the matter at hand. "Okay, lets see who else can go on the list.

two hours later

Finishing up the meeting Lady Une thanked the bounty hunters for whatever help they could provided and arranged for everyone to meet again at thirteen hundred hours the next day. Just to bug the Hell out of Peacecraft Spike made his way over to Noin before she could get out of her seat and gallantly held out his arm to her to escort her out. Grinning Noin took the arm as the two waited for the others to join them as well.

"Really smooth, Spike." Sally said with a smirk as she joined the two, shaking her head ruefully at his actions. Milliardo had left quickly and judging by his face he was far from pleased and Sally thought that maybe this would be the wake up call Milliardo needed to see what he could possible have or lose. "I could almost see the steam rising from his ears. Or I guess since it is him icicles shooting out of his eyes would fit better."

"I thought it was a nice touch." Spike said with a lazy grin as he held his other hand towards her, which she took, squeezing his hand affectionately. "So what do you say we head out, ladies or do you need to stick around here for a while yet?"

"I have some paperwork I have to get done or Wufei will have my head on a platter and it won't be pretty." Sally said with a chuckle as they headed out of the room, Jet. Faye and Edward on their heels. "But it should only take me an hour or so to get done."

"I've got some stuff I should probably get done too. How about you give us the address to the place and we'll meet you there in two hours, sound good?" Noin said as she looked at them questioningly.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jet agreed and getting a piece of paper from Sally quickly wrote down directions to the restaurant. "It's rather a hole in a wall so if you get lost just call us on one of our cells and I'll get you there no problem. Trust me when you taste their food you'll never want to eat anywhere else."

"I'll count on it." Noin said with a wink as she let go of Spike's arm. Saying her good byes along with Sally the two girls saw their friends out then headed back to their offices. Entering the office she shared with Milliardo Noin could practically feel the bad vibes in the room. He was sitting quietly at his desk reading over some papers but she could literally feel his disapproval as easily as she had felt the doorknob under her hand. Walking over to her desk Noin sat down and sparing him a glance shook her head slightly before turning her computer on, leaning back in her chair as she waited for it. 

"Interesting friends you and Sally have." Milliardo finally said after Noin had been typing for twenty minutes or so. Looking up she saw that he still had his head down as if he were reading the print instead of communicating with her.

"Yeah, they're really characters." Noin said with a smile in his direction, wanting to smirk but figuring that wouldn't go over too well should he chance to look up and see it. "I'm sure they'll come in handy figuring this whole thing out."

"So how do you two know them?" Milliardo asked coolly as he looked up from the papers finally thought his icy blue eyes revealed nothing of what he was thinking or feeling. No surprise there Noin thought to herself with a small smile.

"Sally met them all first actually." Noin said, she and the rest already having deciding upon the story they would use when introducing each other to other people. Especially since everyone agreed that Sally's connect to Julia should be kept under wraps, the consequences being considerable since there were still those who might want to use that information. "She met Spike during the war and through him the others. She and him are really good friends and she decided he needed a woman in his life and so she brought me in to introduce us. We dated for a little while but broke it up; we both are on the move too much and our jobs would have constantly got in the way. But we're still really good friends and Edward and the rest grew on me too."

"You use to date him." Was Milliardo's cool reply and Noin was surprised that out of everything she'd said that was the part that had interested him. Maybe Spike had really shook him up Noin said feeling a glimmer of hope at the idea.

"Yup, for a couple of weeks." Noin said with a careless shrug as she turned her eyes back to her computer so that she at least gave the illusion that she was still working. Plus she did need to get this done if she was going to be finished in time for the dinner. "He's a really great guy once you get to know him, he has lots of interesting stories to tell anyway."

"I'll bet." Milliardo said coolly before turning back to his work and after looking at him questioningly for a moment Noin turned back to her own work. She was admittedly a little flustered after all, as she didn't quite get the undercurrent in the room. He didn't seem overly pleased with the recruitment of Spike and the gang but she wasn't quite sure if it was because Spike had flirted with her or simply Spike and the gang bothered him. She'd like to think that perhaps it was because of her but Milliardo had long ago taught her the meaning of the phrase don't get your hopes up. But she kinda wished it was out of jealousy, however petty and small that might make her.

Two hours later

Sitting down at the restaurant the group caught up on what had happened to each other since they'd last met up and Faye filled them in on all the stupid and hair brained things Spike had done and then Spike did the same with Faye ending up yelling at Spike because he was telling the stories all wrong and he knew it. Of course Spike never argued but he went on telling his versions and had everyone laughing as the two had their familiar squabbles. Noin watched them and smiled before taking another bite of her piece of garlic bread which was just about as good as her grandmother use to make and Noin knew she would definitely be coming back here. The placed look kinda seedy and run down which was probably why there were so few people here and the reason that she'd never heard of it. The room was dimly lit and there were actually lit candles in old wine bottles on the tables, which were scarred with use and age. Despite that this was truly some of the best Italian she'd ever tasted and she had a feeling several pounds weight gain was in her future as a result of this discovery.

"Auntie Noin Noin." Edward said, the girl sitting on Noin's left as she tugged on Noin uniform sleeve to get her attention. "You really don't think those bad men are after Heero Person do you?"

"No, I don't think that they were aiming for Heero, Edward." Noin said with a warm smile as she shook her head at the thought. "And even if they were it would take a lot more then a single sniper to do it. That boy should have died a hundred times over before now but he's got more lives then a cat. If it weren't impossible I'd think he was immortal the way he gets out of things with barely a scratch on him." 

"No kidding, if it weren't for his check ups every month I'd wondered if he was human." Sally said with a laugh as she twirled some more spaghetti onto her fork. "Sometimes you really have to wonder how he does it. I mean he's even put his own broken bones back into place which I've personally seen and don't wish to see again."

"Wow." Edward said, her eyes going wide as she listened to them talk about her Heero. He was even better then she'd thought. Edward couldn't wait to see Heero Person again, then she could talk to him about computers and stuff like that. No one understood computers the way she did but she was sure Heero Person would.

"So, Sally." Jet said as he noticed the look in Edward's amber eyes. He had a feeling nothing good could come of it and so he decided to try and change the subject or at least move it away from the topic of Edward's fascination. "Anything new with you?"

"Not really, things have been busy and I really haven't had much time to do anything but eat, sleep and work." Sally said with a laugh as she shrugged at him before taking a sip of her very nice wine. "And now we've got this shooting and everything else to solve so you can bet we're gonna be swamped for a while, right, Noin?"

"I don't doubt it one little bit." Noin said with a laugh as she raised her own glass of wine in salute. "Should be an interesting next couple of weeks." 

Meanwhile

"You guys should see the mood my brother is in, let me tell you it isn't pretty." Relena said with a shake of her head as she sat down with the guys in the living room. She'd come by to work with Quatre on a bill they were trying to get passed and found the guys eating their dessert. Of course she'd had to have some ice cream and now they were all lounging around trying to forget there were things that needed to be done elsewhere. 

"What's wrong with him? Green eyed monster got him? Or green haired guy in this case." Duo said with a smirk having a pretty good idea who was responsible for Milliardo's bad mood. Noin obviously liked this Spike guy and that was sitting too well with his Royal Highness, Prince Peacecraft. 

"Got it in one, Duo." Relena said with a chuckle as she remembered the way her brother had been edging towards sulking the last time she'd seen him. "Of course he'd bite through his own tongue before he'd admit that he was jealous. I almost wish that there was something between the two, maybe then Milliardo would get off his butt and start appreciating Noin the way he should instead of taking her for granted."

"Of course I doubt Heero here wishes the guy would stay around since odds are that would mean he'd have to see a lot of Edward, right Heero?" Duo said as he elbowed his friend in the side, yelping seconds later when Heero returned the favor with a lot more force. "Son of a-what did you do that for?"

"Because you deserved it." Heero said coolly as he gave Duo a look that said drop it or I'll drop you. "So any word yet on that sniper who took those shots at us?"

"Nothing concrete that's going to help us. The equipment he was forced to ditch along the way was professional though and damn expensive, odds are we aren't dealing with an amateur here and he has access to some very pretty toys." Trowa said with a slightly peeved look. He didn't like it that the sniper had gotten so close to the building, that took a Hell of a lot of skill and cunning. Not good when it was aimed at them.

"Well at least no one was hurt, that's the most important thing." Relena said as she smiled at them. She'd been really worried about all of them when she'd heard what had happened and part of the reason she'd arranged to drop by to work on the bill was so that she could see for herself that they were all right. "Yeah but what are they going to throw at us next now that the first move failed." Wufei said quietly, saying what most of them were thinking. "And who will it be aimed at."


	6. Bebop Preventers

Disclaimer: As always in all my chapters and fics I own nothing but my original characters and my plots. If you wish to use either I ask that you only ask my permission first and give me credit for them. Thanks to all my readers for reading my fics and I hope you enjoy. 

Bebop Preventers 

Edward sat on the floor of the ship and began typing away furiously then just not comfortable with the position decided to do a hand stand instead, getting into the position before leaning over to begin typing with her toes which suited her mood for the moment. Going through wall after wall she was getting more then a little frustrated and she really needed to find something for Auntie Noin Noin and Heero person. Heero person, Edward thought with a dream sigh, remembering how he scowled at her when he looked at her. His eyes went the most beautiful shade of blue when he was looking at Edward with his scowl in place. It made Edward's heart flutter strangely and she liked when that happened. It was better then anything, even ice cream or chocolate. 

"Find anything?" Jet wanted to know as he came into the room after giving up looking for Spike who'd gone off who knows where to do God only knows what. Everyone on board needed a keeper or maybe a tracking device permanently attached to them. Finding that idea appealing Jet chuckled to himself and wondered if it were possible. 

"Not yet, Jet person but Edward will. Edward will go without eating or sleeping till Edward finds something to help." Edward said firmly as her feet continued to dance across the keyboard faster then anything. "Edward will not let anyone down." 

"It's okay if you don't find anything, Edward." Jet said with a shake of his head, not wanting the girl to make herself sick if she couldn't find anything else besides what she'd already gotten. "I know that everyone knows how amazing it is that you got what you've got already, it's only natural that everything else be buried extremely deep. They might even have deleted all the stuff after what happened with Twitters." 

"There is still information to be found and Edward will find it or die trying!" Edward declared dramatically and Jet could only roll his eyes at her and head out of the room to check over their food supply for the time being. He had no doubt that the next time Sally and Lucrezia visited they'd check and feel the need to stock up for the guys if they found it bare. In other words Jet wanted to make sure they were running low since both of the women cooked like everyone's ideal mother and would see to it that they had something to eat besides noodles and frozen dinners. 

Meanwhile at Preventers 

"You know I think Edward really likes Heero, poor kid." Duo said to Quatre as he sat down beside his friend in the cafeteria in Preventers. The food was a few steps up from terrible and so he was picking at his lunch more then eating . "She goes all sparkly eyed whenever he's around and he looks like he wants to rebuild Wing Zero solely for the joy of blowing her up to make sure there's no way in Hell she could survive. And you know I think that if he got into the Gundam and told her to stay right where she was so that he could crush her the kid wouldn't move an inch." 

"Is he really that bad now?" Quatre said in a concerned tone as he stopped stirring his soup to give Duo his full attention. Not that he was all that eager to sample his soup but normally the cafeteria cooks couldn't screw up soup..that much. Besides he wanted to know what was going with Edward feeling kind of protective of the girl. It was obvious the kid wouldn't have had anything like a normal childhood and Noin had said the Bebops were always moving which meant he would imagine Edward didn't know a lot of people or have many friends that she got to see on a regular bases. "The poor girl, she must be heartbroken. Heero would crush her under his foot and not even realize he'd done it." 

"That's the thing though, Quatre and it's the weirdest thing. She seems to be utterly clueless to the fact that he'd rather throw himself in front of traffic then be in the same room as her. She seems to like his scowls and even told him so which only made him scowl more which made her happier!" Duo said shaking his head at the strangeness of it all. Never in his life had he met a person who had liked being exposing to Heero killer death glare. "Plus she's starting to imitate him now." 

"Imitate him? How?" Quatre asked with a worried look thinking of all the aspects of Heero's personality that no girl should wish to imitate much less actually attempt to. The girl was already very..unique and the last thing she needed was to pick up more bad habits like Heero's death glares and habit of being a bit suicidal when it came to dangerous situations or just plain situations. 

"Well she's got his scowl down cold, I swear that it's down right freaky to see Edward with Heero's scowl on her fairy face. Plus she's started to drink coffee black even though Jet told me she doesn't even like the stuff much less the way Heero makes it." Duo said making a face that Quatre could easily understand. Heero's coffee was very strong and only Heero and Trowa seemed to be able to handle it without spitting it out. And now Edward apparently and she'd earned Duo's seal of approval for that alone. Anyone who would drink that toxic concoction genuinely was in love with the sour perfect pilot and he wished her all the luck in the world and colonies. She'd certainly need it. "And I bet that if Heero made the effort to ask her not to add person onto the end of his name all the time he might even succeed in doing it. Maybe I should ask him to try." 

"Yes, it is strange how she says a girl's name twice and always adds person on to the guys' names." Hilde agreed as she sat down beside of Duo, setting her tray down with a slight thud on the metal table. "But she seems like a nice kid and boy does she ever know a thing or two about machines. The other day she was looking for Heero to ask him something and when she found out I was having problems with the ship I was working on she pitched in and I don't know what she did to it but that ship has never run so smooth." 

"And she's just amazing with computers." Noin said with a grin as she sat down to join them, her lunch in paper bag since she'd opted to protect her stomach lining by bringing her own lunch that day." 

"So Noin, how did you meet them? For that matter how did Sally meet them? And why does Edward call Sals her Mom?" Duo wanted to know, always curious to find out more about things, especially when the people in question interested him. 

"Well I met them when Sals tried to set me up on a date with Spike." Noin said as she removed the lid on her sandwich which looked very tempting compared to the sandwiches that they served in the caf. People had long speculated that the sandwiches had all been around for a very long time. "We dated for a while and I got to know the others through Spike and Sals. We only dated for a little while but by then we were all pretty close and stayed close. As for Sals Spike was good friends with Sals best friend so that's how they met. After Sally's friend died Spike kinda fell into the big brother role." Noin said with a smile of amusement as she thought of all the times Spike had gotten himself in trouble taking the big brother role too far. "And as for Edward the only blood family she has is a father but she rarely sees him at all though he sends her messages when he remembers." 

"What kind of a father lets his daughter live with bounty hunters?" Quatre wanted to know having assumed that Edward was an orphan the hunters had picked up due to her hacking skills or out of a family connection. 

"A really irresponsible and immature one." Noin said with a sigh once she was finishing chewing. "Believe me she's a lot better off with the guys then she is with that idiot even if he is a nice guy. There are good people who should just never have children and he's one of them even though Edward adores him. I think if Edward ever had to chose between her father and the crew she'd stay with the crew or want to and go with her dad out of duty. She may act very childlike and scatterbrained but she's a very mature and intelligent girl underneath her..strange behavior." 

"So how come you broke up with him, Noin or did he break up with you?" Hilde wanted to know with a curious look on her face as she finished off her can of cola. "He's pretty cute and it's kinda cool the way his one eye is a slightly different shade then the other." 

"That's because one of said eyes isn't his original." Noin said with a smirk that grew to a laugh when Hilde choked on her pop. "He was involved in..a less then upstanding group when he was younger and we broke up with each other, we didn't see the point in it when it wasn't going to go anywhere. We're both always on the move and we were both..hung up still on other people. So we called it quits and have been good friends ever since." 

"Yeah, he has sad eyes." Relena commented as she came over to take a seat beside Noin having overheard the last part of what Noin was saying. "So have they found anything else? We've gotten everything out of Twitters that we're likely to get since he was pretty much useless to begin with." 

"Not that I know of though apparently Edward is like a girl possessed." Noin said with a shake of her dark head, part of her worried about the poor kid who was trying so hard not just to help but to show Heero how smart she was. Trying to earn a word of praise from a man who would be more likely to shoot her then give her a kind word. Noin knew how that felt though it had been cool indifference as oppose to shooting her. "She's been working non stop trying to find more info on what's going on. Speak of the devil." Noin added as she caught sight of Edward coming towards her with a careless grace that meant her nearly hitting everything and everyone in sight but just managing to avoid them. 

"Aunty Noin Noin!" Edward exclaimed as she came to a stop in front of their table, her red hair actually neatly brushed back into a ponytail and she was dressed in clean clothes..black capris and a pretty blue t shirt that made Edward look like the young girl she was but often hid with her clothes and lack of care to appearance. "Guess what, guess what?" 

"Edward you look very pretty today." Noin said still caught by the fact that Edward didn't look like she normally did which was a ten year old fresh from a romp on the play ground. "And what?" Noin said snapping out of her surprise. 

"Edward went shopping with Mom." Edward said as she blushed prettily as she shuffled her feet in her new sandals. She'd asked her mom to help her pick out some new outfits and Edward had taken special care to brush her hair too. She wanted to look pretty when she told Heero person what she'd found. "But that's not important. Edward found more info, Edward found a lead for Preventers to follow!" 

"What kind of lead?" Noin said completely forgetting about the change in Edward, her complete attention on the idea of a possible lead to the case that was becoming more and more frustrating in the lack of clues and leads. "What did you find?" 

"Someone has placed a hole in Preventers." Edward said with a triumphant look on her pixie like face, beaming with pleasure. "They have made a hole that is acting like a black hole sucking in information into itself and carrying it to another computer. They know everything Preventers knows because they are copying everything Preventers put into their computers. Edward thinks that maybe they are selling the information! That that is why they are causing so much trouble, because they are making a lot of money selling Preventers out to people who are enemies of Preventers." 

"Good God..some of the information..would be worth millions on the black market. You're sure about this, Edward?" Quatre said as he stared at Edward intently, feeling a tad sick when she looked back at him and nodded, her eyes showing not just her excitement but the fact that she was as sure as she could be about her theory. "We need to plug this hole immediately, Edward can you do it? I'm sure Heero will help you if you need it." 

"Edward isn't sure about the hole yet." Edward said losing some of her enthusiasm at the admission. "Edward knows it is there but not how to get rid of it or make sure that they can't make another one. Edward and Heero person need to examine the hole thoroughly and try to figure it out before it can be destroyed. Plus if we can find out where the hold was made then maybe we can track down the people who made the hole and sent it into Preventers." 

Several hours later 

Heero sat at his computer and typed away as fast as he could as he put in code after code without any success. Whoever had created the damn hole Edward had found was not only a genius but a master at laying traps and potholes. Stopping his typing to rub his hands over his face Heero looked over to where Edward sat and noticed for the first time that she looked different somehow. Narrowing his eyes slightly Heero blinked when he realized she looked older and less like the annoying brat she was. Though she wasn't being annoying today, Heero had to admit as he watched her type away. She had gone straight to work and had only bothered him to ask questions and keep him up to date with what she'd gotten or found. They actually made a pretty good team he had to admit. She was the best hacker he'd ever come up against and he was amazed that shed found the hole at all given how well it had been hidden. Remembering by the growl of his stomach that he hadn't eaten Heero looked at the clock then decided that it was time to eat something. Not about to settle for vending machine crap Heero pulled out his cell phone then paused, looking over at Edward. "Edward..I'm going to order a pizza from down the street..what do you take on yours? I'm buying." Heero added since he figured it was the least he could do. 

"Heero person..is buying us pizza?" Edward said as her head whipped around so fast she was likely to get whiplash as a result. Heero person was buying them dinner..like a date almost, Edward thought dreamily with her heart pounding in her chest. "Edward likes her pizza with everything except sardines." Edward said with a beaming smile as though he'd just given her a check for a million dollars. 

"Really..so do I." Heero said with a startled look then shaking his head to get back with the program after being blinded by her smile he turned his attention back to the phone and dialing ordered up the pizza and then called down to the main desk to let them know the delivery boy would be coming. After that was done Heero stood up and wincing slightly at the pain in his back from sitting too long Heero stretched stiffly. "They have a pop machine down the hall..what do you want?" 

"Edward will get it since Heero person is getting the pizza." Edward announced as she got out of her seat in a flash, no sign of discomfort from sitting in the chair without getting up for several hours. "What kind does Heero person want?" 

"Ahh..I'll just have a bottle of water." Heero said in surprise though he had no problem with her paying for the drinks. And come to think of it there was something she'd been meaning to ask her. "And Edward I've been wondering..why do you always add person onto the end of my name? I'd prefer if you just shuck with Heero." 

"Oh....okay..Heero per..Heero." Edward said as she caught herself just before she added the person onto his name. If Heero didn't like her adding person to his name like everyone else then Edward would do her best not to. Heero would be special..he would be the only one she didn't call person, Edward thought with a smile, hugging the idea to herself. "Edward will go get your water." When he nodded Edward took off into the hall and when she was past the door she did hand springs down the deserted hallway to express her happiness, ending in a flip once she reached the vending machine. Punching in for his water Edward took it out of the machine and holding it carefully punched in for a Coca Cola then carrying them both with the care a mother would show with her newborn babies Edward returned and gently set the water down beside Heero who'd gone back to work. When he muttered a thank you Edward beamed more when she said he was welcome before going back to her own seat as she went back to typing as they waited for the pizza to arrive. 


End file.
